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Do You Know If Your Money Is Real?

Money is a pretty big part of everyone’s lives. Most people spend their weekdays working hard to earn just enough money to make it through another week. Meanwhile, a very small group of people out there tries to cheat the system and print their own money. This is called counterfeiting and even though the bills may look the same to government printed bills, they counterfeit ones have no monetary value. If a person wants to avoid getting stuck with a counterfeit bill, then they need to know how to check its authenticity.

There are several security measures in place to help people identify real bills from counterfeit ones.

COLOR SHIFTING INK: On all bills divisible by 5, the bottom right number should be printing in color shifting ink. This means that when viewed from an angle, the number should appear in one color, and if you change angles, the color of the number should change.

FINE/SMALL PRINT: Real bills have a lot of small, fine prints on them that is hard for counterfeiters to reproduce. If a bill has small texts, it should be printed clearly. If the text is fuzzy, then the bill is most likely fake.

RAISED PRINTING: One of the easier features to detect is the raised printing. The shirts on all of the people on the bills feature raised printing. If you run your finger nail over it, you should be able to feel the bumps of the “threads” of the shirt.

RED & BLUE THREADS: Despite being called paper money, bills are actually made out of fabric. Despite their initial appearance, they are not solid green. There are thin red and blue threads woven through the bill. Counterfeiters try to reproduce this by simply printing the lines, so if the lines look like they were just printed on, not woven in, then the bill is a probably a fake.

SECURITY THREAD: Every bill has a security thread in it that can be seen when held up to a light. The location of the strip varies depending on the amount of the bill. When held up to a black light, the strip will glow a certain color depending on the amount of the bill:

$5 glows blue

$10 glows orange

$20 glows green

$50 glows yellow

$100 glows pink

WATERMARK: Lastly, there is a watermark that can be seen when the bill is held up to a light. The watermark should be on the right side and is the replica of the face on the bill. If the watermark is visible without the bill being held to a light, then it is likely a counterfeit.

Counterfeiters can reproduce some of these security features, but it is very rare for them to be able to reproduce all of them. By knowing all of these different ways to check for fake money, a person is far less likely to get scammed out of their hard earned cash.

California’s Archaic Vagrancy Laws

The most famous Vagrancy Laws ever created are commonly referred to as the Anti-Okie laws. These particular laws were created in an effort to prevent people who weren’t white, fairly well off, and in good physical condition from entering the state. It wasn’t until 1941 that the U.S. Supreme Court got involved and declared that the Anti-Okie laws were unconstitutional.

Today many believe that because of that ruling, vagrancy laws no longer exist, but that isn’t the case. Different versions of the laws are still in effect today, the biggest difference is that now they are geared towards California’s homeless population, and in California, those laws impact a massive portion of the state’s population.

It is estimated that approximately 22% of the total homeless population in the United States currently resides in California.

The UC Berkeley School of Law Policy Advocacy Clinic conducted a study that revealed that since in the past 30+ years, different cites throughout California have created brand new laws that are designed to make life difficult for that city’s homeless population. There are currently hundreds of different vagrancy laws in the state, and each one is designed to make life very unpleasant for the local homeless. Lawmakers hope that the laws will encourage the homeless to pack up their bags and move to a different city.

According to the UC Berkeley School of Law Policy Advocacy Clinic study that each city in California currently has approximately 9 different laws on the books that target that city’s homeless population. It’s worth noting that in most cases, the laws doesn’t say anything about homeless people breaking a traditional law (such as robbery, vandalism, disorderly conduct, public intoxication, etc.), but simply dealing with the fact that these people doesn’t have a home and is living on the street. If the police choose to enforce any of these laws, these homeless individuals will be arrested, formally charged with a crime, be asked to pay a fee that they can’t afford while gaining a criminal record that impacts their future ability to find housing and even get a job.

And the laws aren’t just for show.

Data indicates that from 2000 through 2012 the number of arrests for vagrancy increased to a staggering 77%.

Police records prove that in 2013, throughout the state of California, more than 7,000 arrests were connected to vagrancy. The same data does show that the number of arrests for disorderly conduct and public intoxication did increase, but it’s unclear if there is actually a connection to the stricter vagrancy laws, or if the police were simply picking up members of the homeless community and charging them with things like disorderly conduct in an attempt to get them off the street.

Many believe that creating tougher vagrancy laws and arresting people simply because they don’t have a home is every bit as archaic as the defunct Anti-Okie laws. They believe that instead of throwing the homeless into jail cells, the courts should explore ways to help these homeless individuals find better housing options.

Life After Jail

After months and months of patiently waiting, the day has finally come – your loved one is coming home! It’s been a long time in the making and you and your family couldn’t be more excited to see their face, give them a big hug, and for their life to finally return to normal. Well, we hope that seeing their face and giving them a big hug will hold you over for some time because “getting back to normal” is going to take some time.

The harsh reality of a loved one obtaining their freedom is that life isn’t going to return to normal as soon as they return home. They will go through several different emotional stages such as culture shock and depression, as well as adjusting to the stigma that is associated with having a criminal record. As a family member, we want you to be prepared for things they will face as they adjust to everyday life.

Culture Shock

As you can imagine, the world continues to evolve while your loved one is in jail. This includes all aspects of life such as technology, politics, and entertainment. Once they are released, they will need to learn new technology – things like the latest smartphone, social media, or navigating websites. As your loved one navigates the new technological, political, or entertainment industry landscape, it is important that you remain patient and answer any questions they may have.

Depression

After one is released from jail, depression is common. As liberating as it may be, it will be tough on your loved one to readjust to daily life outside of strict schedules and constant supervised routine. Furthermore, they will begin facing the stigmas and the harsh reality of trying to obtain employment with a criminal record. Your loved one may feel lost as they try to find a new purpose and value in society. It is important that you help guide them, listen to their frustrations, and remain positive.

Anger Management

One way to show authority in jail is to show aggression toward other. It is important to remind your loved ones that this kind of behavior is not acceptable outside of jail. As someone who cares about them, it’s important that you help them find other means of expressing their frustrations and controlling their anger.

Fight Addiction

If your loved one had an addiction prior to going to jail, or developed one while in jail, it may have impacted their personality. It is important to show support for them and offer outside resources such as a therapist, social worker, or a doctor to help them combat their addiction and stay clean.

We know you are excited to see a loved one obtain their freedom. However, we also know that as exciting as it may be to be released from jail, you and your loved ones will face difficulties as they resume their life as a free person. It’s important to remind them of your support and be a constant source of positive influence as they adjust to life outside of jail.

How Should Firearms Be Stored?

Gun safety should be on the mind of every gun owner out there. Everyone who owns or even handles a gun should know how to use it safely. One of the important parts of owning a gun is how to store the item safely. No one wants a child to find the gun and cause harm to himself or someone else. That is why storage is so important.

Here in the state of California, gun owners are required by law to properly store their firearms.

Failure to do so can result in criminal charges, and that’s the best case scenario. The improper storage of a firearm can result in someone finding the gun, and hurting someone with it. If this happened, the owner of the gun would be held responsible.

The first part of storing a firearm properly revolves around unloading the gun before storing it. Guns should not be stored with ammunition in them. In fact, the gun and ammunition should be stored in two separate locations.

Next, the gun should be stored with some sort of safety device activated. This can be as simple as turning on the safety of the firearm. This will usually prevent the trigger from being able to be pulled. This decreases the chances of anyone accidentally setting of the firearm.

Lastly, the firearm and ammunition should both be stored in separate locked containers. This prevents anyone from accessing the weapon without the owner’s consent.

By doing all of this, a California gun owner ensures that his or her firearm is safely tucked away from prying hands. No child will be able to accidentally find the firearm and set it off by mistake. Following these guidelines, a gun owner takes the proper legal precautions of storing their firearm safely.

Areas Where You Don’t Want To Settle In California

When it comes to the state of California, there are so many different choices when it comes to finding a place to settle down. A person can settle down in a city by the open desert, or in a small, forested mountain town. California has so many options that finding the right place to live here can be a bit intimidating.

Recently, David Ortiz Bail Bonds in Visalia, in an effort to help people keep themselves and their families safe, took a look at what cities were considered to be the safest in the state of California. Some of the cities ranked in the top ten safest included Danville, Irvine, Chino Hills, and Mission Viejo. This provided people with a lot of information about what areas they might want to consider settling down in someday. However, it also got a lot of people wondering, what cities are the most dangerous in the state of California?

What Do Crime Rates Mean?

Anyone looking to move to a new area has probably come across the term crime rates or statistics in their research. For those unaware of what those are, they are simply bits of data that has been collected by various organizations in order to get an idea of what crime is like in that area. These statistics are like a sort of crime grade for the area.

This information usually comes from local law enforcement agencies and then is studied and analyzed by different groups. The groups then give their grade for the area. Depending on the group in question, the grade can vary drastically. This is due to the fact that some groups weigh certain types of crimes differently than other organizations.

When it comes to studying crime rates, all crimes tend to fall into two categories:

Violent Crimes – These are crimes that are directed at people and involve threats of violence. This includes crimes such as assault and murder.

Property Crimes – These are crimes that are directed at possessions and property. This includes crimes such as theft and vandalism.

Typically, organizations looking at crime data weigh violent crimes more heavily than property crimes since they tend to me the more dangerous crimes. However, each group is different and so crime rates can vary slightly from one study to another.

Some lists even take things a step further and look at more than just crimes committed in the area in the last year. They can also look at things such as poverty levels and local law enforcement funding.

The Top 5 Most Dangerous Cities In California

According to data collected by The Sacramento Bee in 2017, the following cities are ranked as the worst in the state of California. This list looks at murder rates for cities with populations greater than 50,000.

Compton: 35.4 murders for every 100,000 residents.

San Bernardino: 28.5 murders for every 100,000 residents.

Salinas: 22.1 Murders for every 100,000 residents.

Oakland: 20 murders for every 100,000 residents.

Richmond: 18.9 murders for every 100,000 residents.

As mentioned above, each group that looks at crime rates analyzes the data differently. This particular list focuses solely on the violent crime of murder. Another list may look at a broader spectrum of information.

Using The Data Effectively

When it comes to looking up crime data before moving, doing research is important. Since different organizations will weigh different aspects of data more or less than other groups, the chances of two lists being the same are slim to none.

If a person is feeling truly ambitious, they can look-up the most recent information on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) page. The FBI monitors crime statistics from all over the country and compiles the numbers annually for citizens to see. Of course, navigating a government run website isn’t always the easiest thing to do if a person doesn’t know what they are looking for.

However, a person doing their own research in this matter is important. This will allow the person to find a list that weighs the data in a way that feels right to them. From there, the person will be able to make an informed on which California cities they do not want to live in next.

Tips For Keeping Everyone Safe This Halloween

Halloween is almost here. It is a night kids dream about all year, filled with costumes and bags full of candy. Kids love this holiday. However, it can be a bit scary for parents, and not in the good way. With the way information spreads nowadays, many people have realized that kids aren’t always as safe as they should be on Halloween.

Parents need to take precautions in order to ensure the safety of their children while out trick-or-treating. Luckily, since information spreads easily nowadays, finding helpful tips and tricks to keep Halloween safe is a piece of cake. We here at David Ortiz Bail Bonds in Visalia have taken the extra steps to gather some of this information and put it in a single place in order to help people keep their families safe and sound this Halloween.

Planning A Safe Route

A good way to get started with Halloween, is to plan ahead. A parent should plan a route for trick-or-treating in advance and go over that route with their kids. This can help keep everyone on the same page, and reduce the likelihood of someone getting lost.

Additionally, if a parent is feeling brave, they can lookup registered sex offenders online. There are several sites that allow a person to see if there are any registered sex offenders in their neighborhood. A parent can use this information to make sure they don’t try trick-or-treating at, or near, any houses where the occupants could be deemed unsafe for kids.

A parent looking to monitor their kid’s candy haul can also take into account houses or streets that offer more or less, candy. We have several parents here at David Ortiz Bail Bonds in Visalia, we know how chaotic some of those sugar rushes can get. That is why we don’t judge parents who are looking to downsize the inevitable sugar high they will have to deal with after Halloween.

For families who live in areas that may not have a lot of options for trick-or-treating, parents can look for special events to take their kids to. Places like parks and malls sometimes offer trick-or-treat options.

While Out & About

While the family is out trick-or-treating, make sure to stay in well-lit areas, or that every person has a flashlight on them. Giving kids glow sticks is another option to help keep them visible. Not only does this help prevent people from stumbling in the dark, it also keeps everyone visible once night falls. It is also important to try and avoid dark areas since anything can be lurking in the shadows.

Another good rule is to keep everyone on sidewalks where available. If there are no sidewalks, stick to the side of the road. Try to only cross streets at crosswalks, but if that isn’t possible, cross when the road is clear. Make sure kids know to never try to cross a road next to a vehicle that is parked on the side of the road. The vehicle can hide pedestrians from drivers, and increase the chances of an accident occurring.

Lastly, beware of drunk drivers. For Kids, Halloween is all about getting candy. For many adults, Halloween is about going to parties, which often involve heavy amounts of drinking. Despite the many campaigns against it, thousands of people still drink and drive. These numbers go up around holidays as people go to and from parties. Be aware of this fact make sure kids give cars plenty of space on Halloween night.

Lastly, and most importantly, parents should just keep their eyes on kids, especially when they are younger. They can get very excited on Halloween, and who can blame them. However, because of this, they may not always make the best decisions. They need an adult with a level head to keep them in check and make sure they stay safe.

Remember The Law

For the more adventurous out there, Halloween is a time to enjoy spooky activities, such as ghost hunting. The thought of entering an abandoned house, or other derelict building may seem exciting to some, but it can be dangerous. Not only do abandoned building pose various safety threats, they are also usually owned by someone.

If a person does not own a particular piece of property, or have permission from the owner to be on said property, then they are trespassing. This can get a person into legal trouble for trespassing. This is a misdemeanor offense which can earn a person up to 6 months in jail and/or a $1,000 dollar fine.

Another thing to avoid on Halloween are any pranks that could be considered vandalism. Halloween is a known time from pranks, and so law enforcement officers are out and about, ready to stop any and all criminal activity. It is not a night to test their patience.

Keeping Halloween Safe

All any parent wants to do is keep their child safe, no matter their age. By following the tips here, a parent can help keep their kid out of harm’s way this Halloween. After all, Halloween is meant to be a fun holiday and a chance for kids to get out and have some fun. Nothing ruins that spooky holiday fun faster than something going horribly wrong.

From all of us here at David Ortiz Bail Bonds in Visalia, we hope you and your family have a safe and spook-tacular Halloween this year.

Should Cellphones Be Banned By Law In Schools?

Times have definitely changed since many of us were kids. Back when most of us adults were in school, the only thing teachers had to worry about were calculators. Nowadays, students walk around with cellphones that can do infinitely more than a calculator ever could. And, we were told we wouldn’t be carrying a calculator around when we grew up.

Cellphones in schools have become quite a problem.

They either distract the student from the lesson or allow the student to sneakily look up answers on the internet. This is why most school ban cellphones, but the country of France has taken it a step further.

As schools began their new year in France, the French legislature recently signed a new law into effect. This new law basically makes it illegal for students under the age 15 to use cellphones at schools, though it is more complex than that.

The law leaves options that allow each school to change what is permitted on their campuses. Some schools may choose to say that these students cannot have phone period, while others may allow them on campus, but they have to be turned off at all times. The decision is up to each school. Before any parent grows too concerned, the new law does allow students to use their phones in the event of an emergency.

There is no denying that cellphones can be very distracting, and as much as we adults hate to admit it, they can be addicting as well. After all, how many of us feel lost without a phone in our hand or pocket? What do you think of France’s new law? Should something like that be done here in California, or do you think kids should be allowed to have their phones whenever and wherever? Let us know in the comments down below.

Statute Of Limitations In The State Of California

The phrase statute of limitations refers to a predetermined amount of time that has to pass before a person can no longer be convicted of a crime. Each state sets their own statute of limitations for different types of crimes. Statute of limitations apply to both criminal civil lawsuits.

Why Statute Of Limitation Exist

The idea of putting a time limit on a crime might seem strange. The logic behind the situation is that by limiting the amount of time a case can be investigated and charges brought, the fairer the justice system is being. The general belief is that after X amount of time has passed, the odds of the defendant getting a fair trial drastically decrease. Not only has the time made witness statements less reliable, but it also means that the defendant is less likely to be in possession of things such as receipts and other records they’d normally use to prove their innocence.

Embezzlement Of Public Funds And Murder

For major crimes, including the embezzlement of public funds and murder, California doesn’t have a statute of limitations. You can be charged with these 1, 5, 20, even 100 years after the crime was committed. If you’ve committed one of these major crimes in California and the prosecution decides they have enough evidence to charge you, your best hope is that enough time has passed that witnesses have begun to forget what has happened.

Lesser Felonies And Misdemeanors

For other type of felony crimes, the State of California has a relatively short statute of limitations. In most cases, if three years have passed since the initial crime and you haven’t been charged within three years, you can relax. With most misdemeanors, the California statute of limitations is either two or three years.

There Is A Catch

There is one catch that complicates the statute of limitations for both misdemeanors and felonies. The clock doesn’t start ticking until the authorities are aware the crime has taken place. For example, if someone drives off without paying for their gas, and no one realizes that it’s happened for three years, you can still be charged for the drive-off nearly six years after the fact. This loophole is called California’s Discovery Rule.

It’s worth noting that two to three years is the general statute of limitations for crimes committed in the State of California today. There is always a chance that new legislation will be passed that could extend the period, giving the authorities even more time to investigate crimes before charges are brought against the main suspect.

Looking For A Cheap And Affordable Bail Bond?

If you were to ask anyone who has bailed someone out before how expensive bail is, they would tell you it is very expensive. Bail costs several thousands of dollars here in California, which places it well out of reach to most individuals. That is why here at David Ortiz Bail Bonds in Visalia, we work hard to make bailing someone out of a jail a cheap and affordable.

One of the ways that we do this is by providing 0% down payment bail bonds for clients with approved credit. Clients who have approved credit can get their loved one out of jail today and not have to make a payment until a later date. This can give the client the time they need to begin gathering money for the payments while still getting their loved one out of jail quickly.

We also offer another discount for qualified clients here at David Ortiz Bail Bonds in Visalia. If you want to get 20% off the price of the bail bond, then make sure you or one of the co-signers for the bail bond is a member of the military, a member of AARP, a union member, a homeowner, or has a private attorney. So long as just one of those requirements is met, then you get 20% discount.

All of this is, on top of the fact that we provide each of our clients with their own, unique payment plan. This payment plan breaks up the upfront cost of the bail bond and spreads it out over several months, making it much more affordable. If you want to get a cheap and affordable bail bond in the state of California, then you need to talk to a bail agent from David Ortiz Bail Bonds in Visalia. We are open 24/7 for your convenience. We also offer FREE consultation, so call us today! We promise, we won’t let you down.

For a FREE consultation with a knowledgeable and friendly bail agent, call David Ortiz Bail Bonds in Visalia at 1-866-485-6356 or 661-326-0608 or click Chat With Us now.

Creating An Emergency Kit For The Great Shakeout

October 18th of this year will be the Great Shakeout. It is a day where schools and companies all over the world practice what they should do in the event of an earthquake. It is an opportunity for people to prepare for an emergency that can happen at any time without any warning. That is why it is important to be prepared.

One way to be prepared for an emergency like an earthquake, is to have an emergency kit ready to go. A good emergency kit will have all of the things that you need to deal with any emergency that comes your way.

This includes:

3 gallons of water per person. This should last each individual 3 days.

If you have kids, activities for young children such as crayons and coloring books.

While this list can seem a bit intimidating, it can all be important in the event of an emergency. Just by having this stuff stored away in a safe place at home, a person is much more likely to be able to survive whatever comes their way.